Migrants In Britain: 2.5

Question 1

Why was King William (of Orange) III so supportive of the Huguenots ?

Answer 1

• he and his wife were Protestants
  [] had been invited to overthrow James II (suspected Catholic)
  [] wanted to strengthen Protestant faith in England and erase any sympathy for Catholicism
• understood how valuable the Huguenots’ skills were to English economy and empire
  [] Huguenot money helped fun his war with the French king who had persecuted the Huguenots

Question 2

Where did the new influx of Huguenot migrants in the early 1700s settle ?

Answer 2

• Soho
• Spitalfields
  [] food and housing were cheaper here than in Soho
  [] more freedom from the English trade guilds in Soho, meaning easier to start businesses of their own without resentment from the English for ‘taking jobs away’

Question 3

Describe how William III and Mary II (his wife) helped the poorer Huguenot refugees settle into Soho/Spitalfields

Answer 3

• set up a relief committee, which raised around £65 000 (£3.5 million today) by the end of the 1600s
• donated around £32 000 themselves between 1689 and 1693

Question 4

Describe the success of Huguenot weavers in Spitalfields

Answer 4

• Spitalfields became known for its weavers; nicknamed “weaver town”
• many large workshops were established, which employed hundreds of Huguenots
• produced many types of silks (esp. figured silks w/raised patterns)
• several skilled Huguenots were admitted to the Weavers’ Company (ancient English guild that controlled the industry in London)
• huge demand for the silks produced in Spitalfields
• many wealthy weavers built their own large houses

Question 5

Who was James Leman ?

Answer 5

• Huguenot weaver and trained designer
• 1711, admitted as a ‘foreign master’ to the Weavers’ Company
• took over his father’s weaving business in 1712
• became ‘Renter Bailiff’ (second in command of the Weaver’s Company) in 1731

Question 6

What is the ‘Protestant work ethic’ and why is it relevant ?

Answer 6

the Huguenot Protestant belief that it’s their duty to work hard and be successful in the eyes of God

Question 7

Describe the significance of Huguenot churches

Answer 7

• original Huguenot English church burned down in Great Fire of London and rebuilt in Soho Square
• Spitalfields had no Huguenot church until given permission
  [] by 1700, 9 had been built
• the churches allowed Huguenots to maintain their identity and culture in terms of language, food and clothing
• they created a connection between the newly forming Huguenot communities
• created welfare and support for the poor and new migrants
• enabled the Huguenots deeper acceptance into society as church-going signalled them to be respectable, learned and hard-working (Protestant work ethic)
• helped create religious/migrant tolerance and normalised different faiths